A personal daily comment on astronomy along with space missions, NASA, observing and lots more.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Take All of Earth's Water.....

Hey Space Placers!

Here is an interesting question/answer from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Q: If you were to take all of the Earth's water and put it into a sphere, how big would the sphere be?

Hmmm, when I read this I really was hard pressed to come up with an answer. We know that the oceans cover 75% or so of the planet, but how much water is that, and how much comes from streams, groundwater, ice caps, etc?

A: A sphere that is 860 miles across, or as described by USGS, "reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas".

When you see the water sphere set against the planet, it is quite a comparison and shows us in a different perspective how valuable and precious water is.

Conserve water when and wherever you can....remember the small blue sphere.

About Me

I love to study and observe the Universe, especially the Moon and asteroids. I do so by intellectual study and the use of telescopes. I also study meteorites. These rocks from space let me touch the Moon, Mars and asteroids - Wow! I conduct education and outreach on our Universe and the exploration of it. I lecture on cruise ships and
I am a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, appear on TV and radio. You can follow my weekly column at WTOP http://www.wtop.com/?nid=903&sid=2281114. All views and opinions are my own.